I write this on a weekend which the forecast says will be the coldest of winter so far. The heater is on more often than it’s off and the electric blanket is going to nuclear temperature before I will get into bed. While we can make the conditions quite pleasant for ourselves, what should you be doing to look after your cat in winter?

What you should do to look after your cat in winter:

Provide enough warmth: A fairly obvious one yeah? Despite the fur coats our little friends insist on wearing, regardless of the season or social occasion, they still like to find somewhere to get warmer. Electric cat beds are widely available, or you could look at our Cat Cosy which is a wheat bag that you heat up in the microwave. The advantage of the Cat Cosy is that it’s safer because you don’t need to remember to turn it off, the covers are washable and hoomans can use it when they get aches and pains too! Other options would include our Feline Futon made from luxurious bamboo velour which we’ve designed with a gap to allow your puss-cat to get “in” the blanket. Pussa is right onto this design feature which I infinitely prefer to when she tries to get in our bed. That for me is a step too far.

Give them access to indoor sunshine: Depending on the orientation of your home hopefully you’ve got somewhere which gets either the morning or afternoon sun. Our bedroom gets the morning sun and Pussa & Soph will migrate there once the sun’s up, squishing themselves against the glass sliding doors to capitalise on the additional heat. If I could contort myself in the same way I’d probably do it too. You might also think about shifting a few bits of furniture around to so they can sit in the sun. Remember, you’re in a share household and it’s in everyone’s interest to maintain the peace.

Litter box placement: Granted, the litter box isn’t your finest item of home decoration and if you normally keep it in the garage or somewhere detached from your living area, be nicer to your cat and bring the litter box inside during winter. Maybe into the laundry or bathroom even if just as a temporary measure for a few months. That might head off having to clean up cat poo off the carpet……..

Keep ’em movin’: In these cold months it’s very tempting for us hoomans to stay within the warmth and comfort of home rather than lace up our runners and get our butts out for a run. These sentiments can afflict your cat too. Much easier to burrow under the hooman’s doona and cat nap for hours at a time. As a responsible pet owner it’s up to you to make sure that your puss-cat maintains their activity level be that playing with one of our Cat Teasers, Fur Balls or chasing after the laser pointer. Regular activity will help keep your Favourite Feline’s weight in check and maintain a regular appetite.

You can do all these things, but what do most cats think is the best thing to do in winter? You silly hooman……..curl up on your lap of course!

Wouldn’t cats look funny without whiskers? It’d be like a human without eyebrows. As with all things in nature there is a definite function, not just an aesthetic, of why cats need whiskers.

Whiskers most commonly grow laterally from a cat’s nose (muzzle), as well as above their eyes, along their jaw and sometimes on the backs of their legs. Don’t be mistaken into thinking that whiskers are like human hair because whiskers are very sensitive touch receptors. They are embedded quite deeply in your puss-cat’s body and connected to their muscular and nervous systems. They’re like a highly tuned and sensitive cat antennae which are constantly scanning for changes to their immediate environment. So let’s just put it out there right now…don’t cut puss-cat’s whiskers! Yes, whiskers fall out and grow back like human hair but if you trim their whiskers they will become disoriented and scared because they can’t make judgements about their environment. Stick to cutting your Barbie’s hair instead.

The functions of cat whiskers

Position, position, position. At the end of a whisker is a sensory organ called a proprioceptor which sends signals to the brain and nervous system about the position of a cat’s body and limbs. The human body has these too for example in our limbs so our brains know the angle of our joints and how our limbs move in space. They also help cat’s measure distance which is on no better display that when they jump considerable heights.

Prey catcher. Have you ever noticed when you play with your cat that they appear to have trouble catching anything which is right in front of them? A cat’s close vision is not that great, so what they do to compensate is curl their whiskers forward to identify the place where the object/prey is. This enables them to know when and where to attack so they can catch that night’s dinner.

Mood identifier. Your cat can’t disguise their mood, it’s written all over their face thanks in part to the position of their whiskers. A content and resting cat will have immobile whiskers. A cat who has their whiskers flattened and bunched is most probably scared and an excited cat will push their whiskers forward. When this is accompanied with a weird sideways cross between running and jumping, and a big Basil Brush tail, Mr Pet Parent and I call this Psycho Cat which seems to happen for no reason whatsoever.

Whiskers can change colour too. Soph’s whiskers are predominantly white but occasionally she’ll grow an odd black one, which apparently is due to ageing. The myth about cat’s whiskers being as long as a cat is wide seems to be on the money too. I don’t know if that holds with cats who’ve got fat. Could I suggest that we don’t try it to find out either?! This super sensitivity of whiskers is likely to be the biggest explanation of why cat’s like to flick food out of their bowls and eat it off the ground. The pressure on their whiskers from the sides of the bowl is probably very uncomfortable for your cat, so flicking the biscuits out onto your kitchen tiles is really quite an ingenious solution. If that happens in your cat household maybe look at getting one of our Slate Plates or Feed Boards. Very zhoosh and contains those biscuit crumbs so they don’t get embedded in your human bare feet!

Everyone who shares their home with a feline knows that cats need to scratch. This is a normal, healthy cat behaviour which they undertake for a variety of reasons.

Reasons cats need to scratch:

It helps their physical condition. This includes maintaining strong claws as scratching helps dislodge the old outer claw. It also serves to strengthen pusscat’s shoulder muscles, along with stretching the tendons in their feet

It marks a cat’s territory both visually and through scent. Particularly for outdoor cats who scratch on trees, this will be a visual cue for other cats in the neighbourhood that there is already a cat in residence. When cats scratch against a surface they leave behind pheromones which act as another sign of the presence of a cat

It’s an emotional release. That’s not to say that when your cat scratches that they are necessarily frustrated, they could equally be excited, happy, or wanting your attention.

Soph’s handmade scratching board

Most of us have a couple of scratching posts available for our Favourite Felines covered in what can only be described as the ugliest carpet offcuts on the planet. When we buy them we think that they will also double as places where our pusscat’s can get up high and sit. Neither Pussa nor Soph are particularly sold on that concept, although they work a treat for when we need to brush them. We’ve found the best scratching posts to be those that are wrapped in sisal rope. It’s probably because the rope’s soft enough for them to dig their claws in, but strong enough to withstand the force of being pulled on. You might also find that your cat is like Soph and has a preference for a horizontal surface instead of a vertical one. We tried those compressed corflute cardboard ones, but according to Soph these don’t cut it. We ended up having to make our own, and yes I’m aware that we have probably given her an inadequacy complex by putting Pussa’s name on it. Oh well, she’ll get over it.

If you are one of the unfortunate ones whose cat is clawing up the sofa, expensive rug, or the curtains, they’re probably doing it because there’s either nothing else on offer, or they don’t like what or where the alternative is. Get yourself a new post (or move one you already have) and place it right next to where your cat is currently scratching. With a bit of luck and perseverance they’ll give up attacking your soft furnishings and discover the joys of the new post! Otherwise, you can also try some commercially available anti-scratching products like Sticky Paws. This is basically double sided tape which adheres to your furniture and it deters your cat from scratching because they don’t like the feeling of stickiness under their paws. There are also sprays which you squirt on and around furniture you don’t want them to go near. They contain non-toxic ingredients that cats don’t like the smell of and so will avoid. Of course, keep their claws trimmed too which will reduce their inclination to scratch as well.

It’s the conundrum of cat owners the world over – you’ve booked a trip away and now you need to decide on your holiday cat care. Obviously you’ve got 3 main choices:

Take them with you. Yeah, but that’s not really an option is it? How many hotels do you know that let you bring your cat? This is how many I know of……ZERO

Send them on holidays to a cattery or to your vet’s

Get a professional cat sitter to visit your home, or if you have willing and able family or friends rope them in to do it for free.

Your decision is going to be based on many things including:

How long you’re going for?

Have you got anyone who you can rely on to look after your furry friend?

Is there room in your holiday budget to pay for care for The Cat?

How does your Favourite Feline handle strangers?

How do they feel about travelling in a car and that dreaded cage?

What time of the day are you leaving and expect to return?

Most cats dislike any interruption to their routine, even though it appears their routine involves a lot of sleeping, and surely that can be done anywhere right? Yes, but your cat likes the same feeding time, in the same spot, from the same bowl, with the same food. They also like the same smells that are at home, the same familiar noises and of course all Their Stuff is at home. Because of this whenever Mr Pet Parent and I go anywhere we try to arrange to leave Pussa & Soph in situ and convince one of our family members to either stay at our place, or visit every day. We even had my 18 year-old nephew look after them for a few days over Christmas. Our optimism at him taking on this responsibility was well founded given that he neither locked himself out, nor let Pussa or Soph escape through the front door. The only evidence of his visit was a Chupa Chup left in the pantry and bottle of beer in the fridge. However, if you haven’t got family of this ilk or understanding friends, then there are bound to be some reputable cat sitting services in your local area. Try to make sure that they come with a recommendation from someone you know who has used them before. You are of course letting them into your house as well as leaving the well-being of your furry friends in their hands so they need to be trustworthy. Most of these service providers will let you nominate whether you want daily or twice-daily visits, and will often do a few other bits and pieces for you – collect mail, water the plants, bring the bins in etc. Whoever is doing the caring, make sure they have your vet’s contact details, understand the feeding regime, how you want the litter attended to and of course how to contact you in case of emergency.

Getting your cats taken care of at home has the added advantage of not having to take and collect them from the cattery. This can be problematic if you need to depart early or are returning late, especially if it’s on a weekend or public holiday. Many catteries will have set opening hours and this often means you have to add an extra night or two to their stay to work around those times. However, when you’ve got no other options or you need someone to administer medication for example, then a cattery or your vet is going to be your best bet. Do make sure that you visit the facility before you book anything. You want to make sure it’s clean, see the size of the enclosure, understand what your cat can bring with them, what the protocols are if they get sick etc. The boarding facility should be very strict on only letting animals stay who are up to date with their vaccinations to avoid the spread of anything nasty.

Ultimately, you know your cat best and what they can deal with and what makes them freak. Still, circumstances are sometimes such that you need to go for your second best option. Rest assured though that most cats will usually settle down in a new environment after a day or so.

If you’re one of the thousands of people who will be heading off on holidays at Easter, enjoy the break, eat an obscene amount of chocolate and bring your cat back a treat too.

The end of daylight saving to me always signals that the last grip you had on summer has now officially slipped through your fingers, and as such we must march onwards toward the colder months. I for one, and no doubt many Sydney-siders, are a bit relieved given the days and nights of never ending humidity, followed by the days and nights of never ending rain we’ve had.

But already 2 or 3 weeks ago Mr Pet Parent and I were starting to notice that Pussa & Soph’s coats were beginning to bulk out. Why is that, and how do they know what’s ahead?

It’s not your imagination. Most cats will get a thicker undercoat during winter, just like many other mammals including dogs and horses

Thickening of their coat is nature’s way of preparing them for the colder months ahead, which of course they will shed like crazy come spring

It occurs when the cat’s brain starts to detect that there is a lessening in the number of hours of sunlight each day

Coat changes are more obvious in outdoor cats as they respond to greater variation in temperature and light outdoors

Indoor cats tend to have comparatively less variation in these factors but still definitely (if Pussa & Soph are any indication) have differences between their winter and summer coats.

In saying that though, just like humans adjust to the climate they live in so will your cat. If you’re in the tropics where the temperature and daylight hours are pretty consistent year round then your cat is unlikely to have an obvious winter or summer coat. That was certainly our experience when we were in Singapore with Pussa & Soph. In retrospect that’s quite interesting now I think about it. They’d come from an environment where there was distinct variation in the seasons, then moved to one where the number of sunlight hours and temperature was basically the same year round. The result…..no difference in their coats because there wasn’t a difference in daylight hours to trigger it. That being said, we moved up there in August and they both felt particularly overdressed for a period of time!

So your Favourite Feline is preparing themselves for winter, what can you do to give them a bit of a hand?

Make sure whatever you choose to feed them that it’s the best quality you can afford. Good quality food is a significant contributor to their overall health which includes the condition of their coat

Ensure they have some nice warm spots to cat nap in. If your cat is anything like our two, they have an extraordinary ability to locate even the smallest sliver of sunlight and will contort themselves to fit perfectly

Provide them with a variety of bedding that suits their mood. We have the Feline Futons for when they want something to stretch out on, the Cat Cot or Slumber Yard when they’re after something more enclosed, or for the times when you really want to spoil them the Cat Cosy which you can heat up in the microwave for them

Continue on with your normal grooming regime even though they won’t be shedding as much. It helps get rid of old fur (which otherwise they will ingest when they groom themselves and we all know what eventually happens after that) and keeps their skin in good nick.

Cats come into their own in the winter months. There’s nothing nicer than coming home after work to a warm bundle of fur is there?